When you have a bad customer experience, how many chances do you give?

For me, it depends partially on demand and price. I drink a lot of Starbucks lattes, and the Terwillegar location closest to my house has notoriously bad service, but I keep HOPING it will get better, so I occasionally give it another chance to prove to me why I shouldn’t drive further to Century Park to get stellar service. The price is low enough, the location convenient enough and I buy them often enough to give a few chances.

But what about a higher ticket item that you purchase less frequently? If you need to buy a good quality suit or a killer pair of shoes and come across a bad salesperson at a store, what would it take you to go back? Would it depend on the store’s selection? A great sale? Would it take a few years? What about a recommendation from a friend to give it another try?

Finally, what about those significant purchases that happen a few times in your life? If you get initial bad service, there’s almost no reason to ever go back, right?

At the beginning of the year, I started looking for a quality dining room table that would last multiple decades. After much fruitless searching, I had a good experience with a saleslady at Urbane by Cottswood. She then came to my house to take measurements and see the space… and then I never heard from her again.

That’s bad service – I should write her and the store off, right? Well I didn’t. I thought Cottswood should be given a second chance despite leaving me hanging for months.

So I called back to find out that the saleslady (and her files) was no longer part of the organization. The staff seemed embarrassed by my poor experience, were apologetic and the manager herself came back out to my house to re-measure and re-discuss what I was looking for. A few days later she sent a proposed table and layout, and because it all looked good, I asked for a price.

She sent me the price and noted that it was on sale.

Now dear readers, does it seem unreasonable that after several months of my files being lost that they may have perhaps offered me a few percentage points off? All I expected was a gesture – something to acknowledge that my customer experience had not been up to snuff.

I wrote back and basically said as much – but the response came back with no gesture – I would get the same price as someone who came off the street who hadn’t given the company a second chance after receiving poor service.

So tell me, am I out of line here? Would you expect a company who’s mission is to “exceed customer’s [sic] expectations thereby cultivating long term relationships” to give a little when their acknowledged internal issues caused bad customer service?

I would. And so I’m starting my search for a dining room table over again.

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Kiri, I don’t think you were out of line at all. Admittedly, I probably wouldn’t have gone back, but you had invested time in this purchase, so I understand why you did.

A lot of times I feel like people are afraid to ask for a discount, even when they’re entirely entitled to one, so if someone does ask me for one, I rarely turn them down. Ultimately, it doesn’t take a lot of effort to turn a situation like this around, and it frustrates me when companies don’t get that.

I think having to parse customer feedback for 3 years made me a lot more sympathetic to the other side of the equation, and how small gestures go a long way.

I think that I would have done exactly what you did. I also tend to stand my ground with poor customer service. For example, even though I like their products and are far closer than other stores, I refuse to go back to Kunitz shoes. But I would prob keep going to the closest source of caffeine as well! Good luck table shopping. Did you try finesse?
Ps let me know if you are going to yoga some eve

I feel like people are often too quick to excuse poor customer service. I am one of those people who will not tip if my service was horrific. Because a tip is suppose to be an extra incentive to perform above and beyond. Not just to perform. I don’t care if there is only one of you for fifteen tables. At least, I don’t care if you just disappear. (Can you tell I have recently had this happen). If you are apologetic and admit that there may be delays I think people are much more receptive and relaxed about the situation.

I have also experienced crappy service in relation to the wedding. And while it certainly did not ruin the event I have to say it is usually one of the first five things that is brought up when close friends discuss the event.

That being said, I get totally frustrated when people do not bring up their issues with a service provider. You cannot expect change if you sit by passively. So I give you major props!